Sunday, March 24, 2002
Linked forever by a single moment on a Vietnamese battlefield, two men find each other again, 30 years later.
By WILLIAM K. ALCORN
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
NEW MIDDLETOWN -- For more than 30 years, Paul E. Burkey has had his own personal version of the "unknown soldier."
A brief encounter between Burkey, of New Middletown, and Dennis M. Bloomingdale on a battle-torn Vietnam hillside inextricably linked the two men forever.
Even though they didn't learn each other's names, or even know if the other was still alive until recently, they were brothers.
At the time, in the heat of battle, Burkey was too busy and Bloomingdale too severely wounded to exchange names.
Here's their story.
On July 7, 1970, under heavy fire, Staff Sgt. Burkey went up Hill 707 in Vietnam's A Shau Valley and literally dragged a seriously wounded Bloomingdale down the slope to medical help.
Action netted medal: For his actions, Burkey received the second of his four Bronze Stars in Vietnam.
But because he was with another company, Burkey didn't know the soldier.
In fact, it wasn't until a book on Vietnam, "Ripcord: Screaming Eagles Under Siege" was published that they did learn each other's names. They finally met again in February.
On the day he was hurt in Vietnam, Sgt. Bloomingdale was sent to disarm a mechanical booby trap that he had set a month earlier. But he was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade fired from a North Vietnamese Army bunker further up the hill.
He suffered deep shrapnel wounds on his arms and hands and chest. His left lung was punctured, his left thigh and a major part of his lower left leg were ripped open, and his left kneecap and leg bone were shattered. He was bleeding profusely.
Bloomingdale, hunkered down between the large roots of a tree, could not move. He had radioed for help, but after waiting for some time, he said, he had pretty much resigned himself to dying.
"It never crossed my mind I'd die from my wounds. But, they (NVA) didn't take grunts prisoners. I just assumed I was going to fight until I was killed," Bloomingdale said in a telephone interview.
Then, Burkey came to his aid. He seemed extremely calm and organized. He knew where the trouble was and what had to be done to get back down the hill, Bloomingdale said.
Burkey had led a squad to bring out what was left of two other squads caught in the NVA attack. One man was killed and 15 were wounded, the worst of whom was Bloomingdale.
As he made his way toward Bloomingdale, who was too hurt to move, Burkey said he heard him screaming at the NVA to surrender.
Burkey bandaged Bloomingdale as best he could, and, during a lull in enemy fire, began dragging him down the hill. Upon reaching a draw in the hillside, Burkey turned Bloomingdale over to a medic.
Courage under fire: "He came after me when no one else even tried. I don't fault anybody. We were all under heavy fire. We were pinned down. But I've wondered if I would have had the same courage," he said.
"I'm absolutely convinced he saved my life. I would have died ... I had already set my mind on that. I was up there alone," Bloomingdale said.
Like Burkey, for more than 30 years, he wondered about his rescuer.
Then came the HBO series "Band of Brothers," about Bloomingdale's and Burkey's unit, the 2nd Brigade, 506th Infantry, 101st Airborne, but set during World War II.
"I went on the Internet to get more history on the unit and stumbled across a link for Firebase Ripcord and the "Ripcord" book written by Keith W. Nolan."
Bloomingdale, who said he hadn't even known the book existed, ordered "Ripcord." As he was thumbing through it, to his surprise, he found his own name in the list of people mentioned in the book.
"I didn't know who had dragged me off that hill, and I just assumed I'd never know. But, lo and behold, there was Paul," he said.
Bloomingdale, who owns DMB Design in Philadelphia, contacted Nolan, and from him got Burkey's work address at Leeson Auto Body in Boardman.
"I was going to call, but for the better part of a week, I couldn't quite figure out what to say. Instead, I decided to write a letter," Bloomingdale said.
Already knew: Burkey had discovered a year earlier, when he first read "Ripcord," the name of the man he had saved.
But, he said, "I just didn't feel right about trying to contact him. I didn't know if he was living or what his circumstances were."
Even when Bloomingdale's letter arrived late last November, Burkey said he didn't open it for four days.
When he finally did open the letter, he discovered what he said was the "perfect letter. Bloomingdale was alive and had a wonderful life."
"I don't know what else to say, but thank you," Bloomingdale wrote.
The next day, Burkey called Philadelphia and said: "Dennis, how are you. This is Paul."
Led to reunion: It was the first of several long phone conversations leading up to a reunion at Gettysburg, Pa., the weekend of Feb. 23.
"I've thought about that guy for 30 years. It never leaves you. Now, I don't have to worry about him anymore. I don't have to go up that hill anymore. I don't have to wonder about him when I see someone without a leg. He's had a good life, and I finally got closure," Burkey said.
Burkey said both of them were nervous when they met for the first time. The only thing they had in common was that moment in the war.
The nervousness disappeared "in about 30 seconds once we got the first hug out of the way," Burkey said.
They already are planning a trip to the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington, D.C., to "pay our respects to the guys who didn't come back," Burkey said.
"I know we'll keep in touch," Burkey said.
" I have a new lifelong friend," Bloomindale said.
"It is amazing, the coincidences of our lives. We both own our own businesses, we are only a couple of weeks apart in age -- 52, and when we were kids, we played war games and cowboys and Indians in the woods. "Combat" was my favorite show."
Burkey said his parting words to Bloomingdale were, "I couldn't have saved a better man."
The story doesn't end here.
Television program: Atty. James H. Campbell, of Shreveport, La., who was a first lieutenant in Vietnam and Burkey's company commander, contacted television's Fox News and its "Heroes with John Kasich" show.
As a result, Fox News spent several hours in Youngstown interviewing and filming Burkey, and more than two days filming the reunion in Gettysburg. The two men are the subjects of an upcoming program.
alcorn@vindy.com